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Portions not contributed by visitors are Copyright 2018 Tangient LLC
TES: The largest network of teachers in the world
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Final report
Dear partners, I believe we could begin with the Summary done by Silvia.
E1.
SUMMARY
HIDDEN TALENTS was an interdisciplinary project which addressed the areas of education and personal development. The national curriculum was integrated into the project. While providing the international audience, this project enhanced pupils’ talents - developed them, inspired them, challenged them through various tasks on the local and international levels. The fulfilled idea was to enrich students’ creativity and talents and improve their skills in: languages, music, art, ICT, literature and drama fields as well as communication skills. Schools organized a set of events to give children opportunities to present their skills. E.g. sport-, literature-, recitation- and language competitions. Activities were determined on three levels, according to the students’ age. Students wrote joint stories about their mascots and illustrated them with different techniques and photos. They were displayed at school and on the wiki “hiddeneuropeantalents”. One highlight was an English competition during the project meeting in Germany. All coordinators took active part in that competition. Foreign language competitions were held in each school. Hungary invited other schools to take part in it, too. After them the English and German coordinators made Skype- conferences with the best language speaking students. Students wrote stories about their national mascots. During all meetings were held A DAY TOGETHER FOR EUROPE. All guests introduced their countries and schools, involved host students in typical activities of the partner countries. Teachers learnt about school systems and could compare their daily duties. Talent shows were big events to present talented children to the audience. Other schools got invitations to observe or take active part in it. While working with students even involved teachers and especially coordinators could improve their linguistic and ICT competences. Romanian students created the HIDDEN EUROPEAN TALENTS Wiki and all coordinators worked on and with it. Collaboration on the European level educated us about planning, responsibility and team work. The project aims were set at pupils aged four to nineteen with diverse backgrounds. Competitions and quizzes helped to evaluate expected achievement. The final joint product was presented on the Internet and the final international conference. A last survey discovered success in non-academic areas, and through it able to show these skills and talents to an international audience. It helped young people to break through their barriers or start their own professional career.
E2.
OUTCOMES
At the beginning of the project we had the outcomes from the application form. I think we have to agree which of them will be in the final report.
Julia: the most important ones must be introduced (whith wiki reference) ITC competition was not done
E3
Two words that are very important to our Project are: Unity and Diversity. They are part of the vision that we have for our schools and one reason why this Comenius project has been so important for the pupils and teachers who have actively taken part in the “Hidden Talents” project over the last two years. The welcome everyone has received in each school has been wonderful, but each has been uniquely diverse to showcase each country’s cultural background and heritage.
At our schools, we all have children from many different backgrounds; most, but not all, were born in the country they now live in. For example nine countries and five religions are represented in the British School. We all have members of staff from countries other than their own. Celebrating this difference is very important. ‘Diversity’ is an important word for us as a Comenius team. Yet they all live in their respective countries and should be committed to them. They are all part of their local school community. They are also part of Europe and part of a wider world.
On each exchange visit it has been wonderful to meet students and teachers from Romania, Croatia, Hungary, Britain, Germany and Slovakia. We have all spent enjoyable times with the young students and teachers trying to teach each other a few words in our own mother tongues and telling each other stories of life back in our own country. The friendships on show, which grew and grew throughout the two years, remind us why projects such as ours are so important. Some of these links will have been forged for life.
The “Hidden Talents “Comenius Project has enabled us to teach our pupils about the wider European Community. For Example, when we started our project colleagues from partner schools were welcomed to Holbrook School in Trowbridge, Britain. This was a wonderful opportunity for the British pupils to meet real people from other countries. It was important that, even the youngest children, learned that not everybody lives in Britain and that not everybody speaks English as their first language! Understanding the differences and connections between the different countries is important for pupils, if they are to understand their place in Europe and the world. More than this, though, we feel that you can only truly understand your own country if you meet people from other countries. It is in meeting others that you build a sense of your own national identity.
We want our pupils, wherever they were born, to be proud of being part of their respective countries. They also need to understand that children from other countries will be equally as proud of their own countries. As some of the children we teach will never leave their own countries, projects such as these are so important. ‘Unity’ and ‘Diversity’- are the words that keep coming back to remind us of our duty as European Citizens.
E.4. PARTNERSHIP OBJECTIVES ACHIEVEMENTS
Please summarize briefly the main aims/objectives of your partnership. (Jana)
The general aim of the project was to demonstrate that using talents in the approved manner can be beneficial and enjoyable. The international project HIDDEN TALENTS helped children to develop their natural skills and talent which can be very important for their further education and career. This project helped to inspire children and to develop their talent. The best students took part in different activities, competitions and presented their skills on the international level. Those who are talented in literature wrote joint stories - Hidden Treasure. Linguistically talented students took part in foreign language competitions. Artistically skilled children illustrated stories for Hidden Treasure with different techniques and took photos for Mascot´s Diary. The concrete aim of the project was to create the HIDDEN EUROPEAN TALENTS Wiki on the internet which involved mainly students from Romania who created the Wiki. Students from partner countries with ICT abilities took part in a thematic survey on-line. Each school also organized Talent Show which was a very big school event that gave children the opportunity to present their skills and talent to the local and international audience. A part of each project meeting was A Day Together for Europe. All guest teachers and students introduced their home countries and schools. Teachers learnt about host school system and could compare their school daily duties.Partner schools prepared many exhibitions and various Comenius Days which presented their work and progress. The teachers also focused their attention to the students with disabilities and special needs to encourage them and build up their self-esteem and self-confidence. The special focus laid on the final international conference and brochure that summarized the work and achievements of the project.
E.5 KEY COMPETENCES
Please enter the key competencies addressed by your project, as you see them.
- Communication in foreign languages (KC2)
- Communication in the mother tongue (KC1)
- Cultural awareness and expression (KC8)
- Digital competence (KC4)
Please specify any concrete measures and activities undertaken at partnership level.Geta proposal:
All planed activities in E2 part.
E.6. HORIZONTAL ISSUES
- Promoting an awareness of the importance of cultural and linguistic diversity within Europe, as well as of the need to
combat racism, prejudice and xenophobia (Div)- pupils joint in educational activities during the period of the programme, a great deal during mobilities
They took part in lessons, were involved in learning activities, joint planned activities of host peers and their families
- while staying in host families they could compare their own life and lifestyle with their peers, noticed same pleasure or problems and tried to talk with each other
- this challenged them to communicate, first steps were done to teach each other their own language or to communicate in English or German
- all partners took part in museum visits, talent- shows, sport or music events
- language competitions at different age and quality levels were done, the bests could talk with native speakers from Germany and England by using Skype
- pupils were involved in our "Day together for Europe", learnt about partner countries, made games or some handycrafts with guest teachers, sung songs and had fun at a wake up- shake up event, introduced by the English partner school
- E.7. WORKPLAN AND TASKS
If some of the tasks carried out are different form those planned at application stage, please explain why.A few tasks were carried out a different way we had planned because of some reasons: the Polish school could not take part in the project, in the Slovakian school a new coordinator started to work after four month and in some schools the local programme was unexpectedly intensive in certain periods of the year.
No project meeting was held in Poland, we had to reorganise the order and main tasks of the meetings at the beginning of the project period.
ITC competition was not organised but instead children and teachers learnt how to work with a new programme called Prezi. Students created prezis in which they introduced their own countries, towns and schools. In the first year the past-time survey was done on paper, the second year an on-line version was created.
Slovakian partners could not take part in teacher exchanges to Germany and England and German teachers visited the Hungarian partner school in the second year as the planned time there were too many teachers ill at the school.
The international joint stories were finished a few months later than planned, and we agreed not to organise a competition to find the best one, as they were all unique and tailor-made stories.
E.8 COMMUNICATION AND COOPERATION
Please describe the cooperation and communication between you and your partners.
Please include information on any communication problems which you encountered and how you addressed these issues. You should limit your answer to no more than 4,000 characters, including spaces.
Geta proposal:
The cooperation between our schools started during the preparatory meeting in January 2012. We set up the wiki at the very beginning of the project, during the application stage, having in mind the need to have a common place for communication in English (http://hiddentalents2012.wikispaces.com). Here each partner was able to present its ideas, get in touch with the proposals and feedback from the other partners, in order for a final agreement to be achieved.Taking into account that Poland, responsible with ICT, was not able to join us in the project, the wiki site (http://hiddeneuropeantalents.wikispaces.com/+Welcome+to+Hidden+European+Talents+wiki%21) was created by a Romanian student after the first coordinators meeting in Trowbridge. WIKI was used as the main means of communication. It soon became a place for regular meeting, sharing experience, distributing information and presenting partial results of project tasks. Other frequently used on-line tools for communication among coordinators were e-mails and video conferences.The coordinators at schools managed the overall dynamic of the project by providing a framework for students and teachers and supporting the information exchange. The project road-map included checkpoints to control whether we followed the plan. The project coordinators were in charge with checking if all activities were accomplished. The position of the project coordinator in each school was important not only for managing the project and handling the collaboration with the school staff, but above all for the communication with partners and the main coordinator. We had regular meetings of the staff at each partner school. This boosted the exchange of experience and bright ideas, spearheaded team cohesion and stimulated the genuine progress of the project. Besides this, we organized individual teacher exchanges, video conferences between schools to give the chance for every colleague to see and talk to their partners. As communication means, we used e-mail and ordinary mail, and we connected with participating colleagues using Skype calls, chats and video conferences. During the project meetings each school provided possibilities for partners to introduce their countries and schools. There were class partnerships during the project; students communicated by writing letters, emails and exchanging files and photos.The effective cooperation started at the first coordinators´ meeting with reorganizing the Activity Calendar and redistributing the tasks. The Hidden European Talents wiki managed by the children was the main area of the collaboration. Literature and recitation contests, other events and projects were organized by every partner school. Children’s hidden talents uncovered during these activities were presented to the international audience by publicity on wiki. At the very beginning of the project, students created their self-portraits writing “It’s me” and sent them to partner schools. They designed mascots that visited children´ s homes and wrote a diary during the two years of the project, which was published on wiki. Children wrote and illustrated lyrics and circulated stories on international level. Students and teachers made films that allowed us to broaden our communication.The Slovakian partner changed the coordinator during the first year of the project. This generated some difficulties in the communication and cooperation with the Slovakian partner but we managed to deal with all the problems together, helping each other when needed (inspiration, motivation, giving advice, useful web links, sharing teaching and lesson planning materials). After that, the whole project collaboration went smoothly and all participating organizations were equally involved.
E.9 PARTNERSHIP LANGUAGES
Please select the communications language(s) used within the partnership from the drop-down menu.
To add a language, please click on the “+” icon. To delete a language, please click on the “-“ icon.
Geta proposal:
EN - English
DE – German
My idea for E 10.1.
Welche Hauptschlüsse und -konsequenzen haben Sie aus den Monitoring- und Evaluierungsaktivitäten gezogen?
(this part has been checked by Nelian)
E10.1.
During each meeting we spoke about things we had done or should work further on. Further to this each country was given a questionare about the organization, their feelings and the activities undertaken while they were at the meeting. The results were put on the wiki and helped the next host to plan activities and competitions. All together it was a good mixture of all evaluation tools (discussions, observations, e-mails, questionaires, surveys and interviews) and we learned, that we did a good job of organising lots of interesting activities, we shared our tasks so that each country's workload was well balanced and that we could take part in other projects in the same way again.
- E.10.2. RESULTS/PRODUCTS/OUTCOMES ACHIEVEMENT
To what extent were results/products/outcomes previously identified at application stage achieved?If your outcomes were different to those indicated at application stage, please explain the reasons for these changes.
To a very high extent (Tvhigh)
If your outcomes were different to those indicated at application stage, please explain the reasons for these changes.
E.10.2 CORRECTED VERSION
Some competitions were not organised on international level as it had been planned in the application. ITC – competition was missed out because the Polish school (should have been in charge) could not participate therefore it could not organise the competition. Instead Partner schools organised local competitions and to develop students’ ITC skills we learnt how to make prezis. The tailor-made „Hidden Treasure” stories and the lyrics written by children were not judged, as it was thought they were all deserving to be published on the wiki. The children illustrated them. The results of the two surveys on students’ preferences could not be compared because German children did not filled the second e-form and the numbers of children with different nationalities were not the similar therefore results were not comparable.
E.10.3. AIMS/OBJECTIVES ACHIEVEMENT
To what extent were the aims/objectives previously stated at application stage achieved?
In case of underachievement, please explain which aims/objectives were not achieved and for what reasons. (Jana)
All the completed activities were in accordance with the original application form. The schools cooperated intensely on many levels to fulfil the project tasks. As an important tool of communication among the schools were Skype conferences, involving coordinators and students from all partner schools. E-mail correspondence and Skype conferences allowed to coordinate the project with all its activities. Each project meeting was a great success in many ways. We had great intercultural meetings among the participating countries, nations and schools. We had a very successful work time together, developed our knowledge about the partner countries, the cultural heritage and the education system and how partner schools work with talented children.Our two-year cooperation turned out to be a very successful and very enriching partnership for all participating schools. The results of our partnership are described on our website http://hiddeneuropeantalents.wikispaces.com/. The wiki is filled with jointly written and illustrated stories - Hidden Treasure, diaries of national mascots, language and ICTcontests, short films, song/photos taken during the various activities – e.g. project meetings, A Day Together for Europe, Talent Shows, sightseeing trips, conferences, Comenius Days, dictionaries, exhibitions etc. All schools, with the school from Bucharest in the lead, took part in the preparation of the final conference. On the final international conference coordinators presented their work and progress and prepared a brochure which describes all the project activities.
All the mobilities were in accordance with the application form, only Slovakia did not take part in two mobilities in England and Germany due to the change of coordinator. The former coordinator should travel there but the new one was not able to visit England for personal reasons. There was a change in number of participating countries. Poland should also have participated in the Hidden Talent project, but unfortunately Poland did not participate, as the man in charge (the mayor of the town) had not signed the application form for the project.
Final Exhibition - HIDDEN TALENTS in SLOVAKIA